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Slap Shot
| runtime = 123 min. | country = United States | awards = | language = English | rating = | budget = | gross = $28,000,000 }} Slap Shot is an 1977 American comedy film directed by George Roy Hill, starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean. Plot Reggie Dunlop (Paul Newman) is the aging player-coach of the Charlestown Chiefs hockey team in the fictional Federal League. A perennial loser for years, the team's manager Joe McGrath (Strother Martin) has resorted to extreme cost-cutting techniques and embarrassing promotional antics to keep local interest alive. Dunlop (while not particularly talented as either a player or coach) is a skilled con man and regularly manipulates the team to his own advantage. During a hopeless season, the Chiefs pick up the Hanson Brothers, bespectacled violent goons with childlike mentalities, complete with toys in their luggage. Horrified at being given players who seem stupid, immature, and unreliable, Dunlop initially chooses not to play them. When it is announced that the local mill will be closing and 10,000 workers will be unemployed, Dunlop grows concerned about the team's future. He makes several attempts to learn the identity of the team's anonymous owner (a running gag throughout the film), but is deftly deflected by McGrath each time. When McGrath accompanies them on an away game, top scorer Ned Braden (Michael Ontkean) overhears him attempting to get a job with another team. After Braden relays this information to his teammates, Dunlop confronts McGrath, who confirms that the Chiefs will fold at the end of the season. Determined to save the team at all costs, Dunlop starts provoking fights at games to secure goals and the Chiefs start to win games. In a moment of desperation, he lets the Hansons play and discovers that their aggressive fighting style enthralls the fans. He begins retooling the team as a goon squad in the Hansons' image and attendance quickly increases. Capitalizing on this growing interest, he plants a false story with eccentric sports news writer Dickie Dunn (M. Emmet Walsh) that a Florida retirement community is interested in purchasing the team, in order to bolster the confidence of the players and to hopefully inspire an actual sale. Most of the players, such as Dave "Killer" Carlson (Jerry Houser) embrace the shift, but Braden, a college-educated player with a clean style, resists every chance to fight. This eventually leads to Dunlop benching him. Braden's failing relationship with his bored wife Lily (Lindsay Crouse), puts further strain on him, and Dunlop feigns interest in her to make Braden more aggressive. After realizing that she is truly depressed and falling into alcoholism, Dunlop establishes a friendship between Lily and Francine (Jennifer Warren), Dunlop's ex-wife. Meanwhile, the Chiefs' tactics get them into a great deal of legal trouble and make them a number of enemies, in particular, the Syracuse Bulldogs and their mercurial leader Tim "Doctor Hook" McCracken, who is determined to pummel Dunlop after a humiliating defeat. When the Chiefs' success fails to make any real progress, Dunlop's patience wears out. He uses an embarrassing past homosexual advance from McGrath to blackmail him into revealing the identity of the team's owner: a wealthy widow named Anita McCambridge (Kathryn Walker). Amused at Dunlop's optimism, she compliments him on his clever manipulations, but admits that she cares little for hockey and despises the violence. She informs Dunlop that while he has made the team a viable commodity for a lucrative sale, she would rather fold it to procure a tax write-off. Appalled at her indifference, Dunlop insults her and storms off. Completely defeated, and with the realization that the championship will be his last game, Dunlop decides to abandon his efforts and end his career with a clean win. He admits his deception to the players and manages to get them on board to play their final game straight: "old-time hockey." The Syracuse Bulldogs (the Chiefs' opponents) have abandoned their original lineup except for McCracken and stocked their roster with an assembly of the most notorious enforcers in Federal League history, some of whom have actually been banned from the sport but reinstated for this one occasion. The Chiefs are pummeled in the first period, and McGrath storms into the locker room and angrily informs them that the stands are full of NHL scouts. Hearing this, Dunlop and the Chiefs change their minds and turn the remainder of the game into an all-out brawl. While sulking on the bench, Braden spots Lily in the stands with Francine. Enthralled by her makeover and attendance, he skates out to center ice and strips off his uniform, prompting the arena's band to accompany him with "The Stripper." Both teams stop fighting and stare in amazement at the striptease, more offended by Braden's antics than their own. McCracken demands that the referee put a stop to it. When the official refuses, McCracken sucker-punches him, causing the referee to declare a forfeit, thus giving the Federal League championship to the Chiefs. The team celebrates by parading around the ice with the championship trophy, carried by Braden, wearing nothing but skates and a jockstrap. During a championship parade in Charlestown the following day, Dunlop flags down a departing Francine and informs her that he has accepted a job as the coach of a new team, the Minnesota Nighthawks, and that he intends to bring Chiefs players with him. She bids him goodbye and drives off, and he is left claiming to Braden and Lily that she will be coming to Minnesota "for sure." Cast *Paul Newman – Reggie 'Reg' Dunlop *Strother Martin – Joe McGrath *Michael Ontkean – Ned Braden *Jennifer Warren – Francine Dunlop *Lindsay Crouse – Lily Braden *Jerry Houser – Dave "Killer" Carlson *Andrew Duncan – Jim Carr *Jeff Carlson – Jeff Hanson (#18) *Steve Carlson – Steve Hanson (#17) *David Hanson – Jack Hanson (#16) *Yvon Barrette – Denis Lemieux *Allan F. Nicholls – Johnny Upton *Brad Sullivan – Morris Wanchuk *Stephen Mendillo – Jim Ahern *Yvan Ponton – Jean–Guy Drouin *Matthew Cowles – Charlie *Kathryn Walker – Anita McCambridge *Melinda Dillon – Suzanne Hanrahan *M. Emmet Walsh – Dickie Dunn *Swoosie Kurtz – Shirley Upton *Paul D'Amato – Tim "Dr. Hook" McCracken *Ronald L. Docken – Lebrun *Guido Tenesi – Billy Charlebois *Jean Rosario Tetreault – Bergeron *Christopher Murney – Tommy Hanrahan *Myron Odegaard – Final Game Referee *Blake Ball – Gilmore Tuttle *Ned Dowd – Ogie Ogilthorpe *Gracie Head – Pam *Nancy Dowd – Andrea *Barbara L. Shorts – Bluebird *Larry Block – Peterboro Referee *Paul Dooley – Hyannisport Announcer *Bruce Boudreau – Hyannisport player *Mark Bousquet – Andre "Poodle" Lussier *Connie Madigan – Ross "Mad Dog" Madison *Joe Nolan – Clarence "Screaming Buffalo" Swamptown *Cliff Thompson – Walt Comisky *Dan Belisle, Jr. – Stickboy *Ross Smith – Barclay Donaldson *John Gofton - Nick Brophy (uncredited) Production The original screenplay (written by Nancy Dowd) is based on her brother Ned's experiences playing minor league hockey in the United States in the 1970s, during which time violence (especially in the low minors) was the selling point of the game Nancy was living in Los Angeles when she got a call from her brother Ned, a member of the Johnstown Jets hockey team. Her brother gave her the bad news that the team was for sale. She moved to the area and was inspired to write "Slap Shot." "Slap Shot" was filmed in Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; central New York (at the Clinton Arena in Clinton, New York, Utica Memorial Auditorium in Utica, New York and the Onondaga County War Memorial Auditorium in Syracuse). Nancy Dowd used her brother Ned and a number of his Johnstown Jets teammates in Slap Shot, with Ned Dowd portraying Syracuse goon "Ogie Ogilthorpe." He later used the role to launch a career as a Hollywood character actor, an assistant director and eventually a line producer. The characters of the "Hanson Brothers" are based on three actual brothers: Jeff, Steve and Jack Carlson, who played with Ned Dowd on the Jets. The character of "Dave 'Killer' Carlson" is based on then-Jets player Dave "Killer" Hanson. Steve and Jeff Carlson played their Hanson brother counterparts in the film. Jack Carlson was originally scripted to appear in the film as the third brother, Jack, with Dave Hanson playing his film counterpart, "Dave 'Killer' Carlson." However by the time filming began, Jack Carlson had been called up by the Edmonton Oilers, (then of the WHA) to play in the WHA playoffs, so Dave Hanson moved into the role of "Jack Hanson," and actor Jerry Houser was hired for the role of "'Killer' Carlson." In an article with Time magazine in 1984, Paul Newman claimed that he swore very little in real life before the making of Slap Shot, saying, "There's a hangover from characters sometimes. There are things that stick. Since Slap Shot, my language is right out of the locker room!" He also stated publicly that the most fun he ever had making a movie was on "Slap Shot" as he had played the sport while young and was fascinated by the real players around him. He also said that playing the part of Reggie Dunlop was one of his favorite roles. The movie was filmed in (and loosely based around) Johnstown, Pennsylvania and utilized several players from the then-active North American Hockey League Johnstown Jets (the team for which Dowd himself played) as extras. The Carlson Brothers and Dave Hanson also played for the Jets in real life. Many scenes were filmed in the Cambria County War Memorial Arena, the Starr Arena in Hamilton, New York, the Utica Memorial Auditorium (used as "Peterborough" where the pre-game fight occurs and where a Hanson reprimands the referee for talking during the anthem), Onondaga County War Memorial in Syracuse, New York (used as "Hyannisport" where the Hanson Brothers charge into the stands to accost a fan and are subsequently arrested), and in other Johnstown locales. Coincidentally, the Johnstown Jets and the NAHL folded in 1977 (which was the year "Slap Shot" was released) Reception Box Office At the box office, "Slap Shot" grossed $28,000,000 domestically. Critical Reception On Rotten Tomatoes, "Slap Shot" was given a 85% rating based on 26 reviews. The critical consensus states, "Raunchy, violent, and very funny, Slap Shot is ultimately set apart by a wonderful comic performance by Paul Newman". Gene Siskel noted that his greatest regret as a critic was giving a mediocre review to this movie when it was first released. After viewing it several more times, he grew to like it more and later listed it as one of the greatest American comedy movies of all time. The Wall Street Journal's Joy Gould Boynum seemed at once entertained and repulsed by a movie so "foul-mouthed and unabashedly vulgar" on one hand and so "vigorous and funny" on the other. Michael Ontkean's strip tease displeased Time magazine's critic, Richard Schickel, who regretted that, "in the dénouement Ontkean is forced to go for a broader, cheaper kind of comic response". Despite the mixed reviews, the film won the Hochi Film Award for "Best International Film". Paul Newman himself stated on many occasions that of all the films he'd been in, "Slap Shot" was by far the most fun and his personal favorite. Critical reevaluation of the film continues to be positive. In 1998, Maxim magazine named "Slap Shot" the "Best Guy Movie of All Time" above such acknowledged classics as The Godfather, Raging Bull and Paul Newman's own film Cool Hand Luke. Entertainment Weekly ranked the film #31 on their list of "The Top 50 Cult Films". Theatrical Trailer Category:1977 films Category:American sports comedy films Category:American sports films Category:Universal Pictures films Category:Sports films Category:Rated R